HIGHLIGHTS

Upadhyay is a co-accused in the Malegaon blast case along with Col. Purohit.

Bombay High Court today granted bail to retired Army Major Ramesh Upadhyay in the 2008 Malegaon blast case on the grounds of parity. Upadhyay, co-accused in the case with Leiutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, has already been granted bail by the Supreme Court. Purohit was arrested after Upadhyay, in the deadly blast which took place in a Muslim-dominated district of Malegaon, in Maharashtra, which left seven people dead and over 100 injured.

The division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Sadhna Jadhav asked if Upadhya's role in the blast was bigger than Colonel Purohit. Major Upadhyay's lawyer Sudip Pasbola and the lawyer for investigating agency NIA Sandesh Patil both said "lesser". However, Patil wanted to argue against Upadhyay being granted bail by stating his exact role in the case, but justice More said, "our hands are tied in the light of Supreme Court's order."

Upadhyay is accused of participating in various meetings organised by an outfit called Abhinav Bharat which was floated by Purohit. "The organisation is not banned and the group wanted to make a Hindu Rashtra Karyarat, which will have its own constitution. The proposal of blast was given by Purohit and others and they planned for a guerrilla war according to the chargesheet," said Pasbola.

Justice More asked if the Section (IPC) of waging war against the nation was liable against Upadhyay, to which Pasbola replied in a negative.

Upadhyay will now have to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh, 2 solvent sureties, and will have to appear in trial court as and when required. He is the 10th accused in the case to get bail. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is already out on bail since last year. Two accused, Sameer Kulkarni and Rakesh Dhawde have not decided as yet if they want to file for bail application.